Dashboards

Overview

Studio Dashboards allow you to combine multiple charts, data grids, and custom views into a single overview page. Each dashboard is composed of configurable dashlets that can be arranged in a multi-column layout.

Dashboards are managed from App > Reporting > Dashboards.

Studio Dashboards grid view

Creating a Dashboard

Navigate to App > Reporting > Dashboards and click New.

Studio Dashboard form

Dashboard Fields

Field Required Description

Name (1)

Yes

Unique technical name of the dashboard. Must not contain spaces. The name is validated and normalized automatically.

Title (2)

Yes

Display title shown as the dashboard page header.

Studio App (3)

No

Associates the dashboard with a Studio App for packaging. Only visible when enableStudioApp is active (see Configuration).

Dashlets

The Dashlets panel defines the content blocks displayed on the dashboard. Dashlets are listed in an editable grid with drag-and-drop reordering (canMove).

Dashlet configuration form

Dashlet Configuration

Field Required Description

Name

Yes

Technical name of the dashlet. Must be unique within the dashboard.

View type

No

Type of content displayed. Restricted to three options: chart, grid, or custom.

Meta view

Conditional

Reference to an existing view (MetaView). Required if no action is set. The view selector is filtered to show only views matching the selected view type.

Action

Conditional

Reference to an action (MetaAction) that provides the dashlet data. Required if no meta view is set. Filtered to show only action-view type actions.

Colspan

No

Width of the dashlet in grid columns (out of 12). Default: 6. Maximum: 12.

Height

No

Fixed height of the dashlet in pixels. Default: 350 when set to 0.

Can search

No

Whether the dashlet includes a search bar. Only shown for grid-type dashlets.

Pagination limit

No

Number of records shown per page. Only shown for grid-type dashlets.

Sequence

No

Display order of the dashlet on the dashboard. Dashlets are ordered by ascending sequence.
A dashlet must have either a Meta view or an Action — not both. The form enforces mutual exclusion: when one field has a value, the other is hidden.

Layout Guidelines

Use the Colspan property to create multi-column layouts:

Colspan Layout

12

Full-width dashlet (one per row)

6

Half-width dashlet (two per row)

4

Third-width dashlet (three per row)

3

Quarter-width dashlet (four per row)

Combine charts and data grids on a single dashboard to create comprehensive overview pages. For example, place a sales trend chart (colspan=8) next to a top customers list (colspan=4).

Dashlet Types

Chart Dashlet

Displays a Studio Chart or any chart-type MetaView. Use this to embed visual data representations.

Grid Dashlet

Displays a list of records using a grid view. When using this type:

  • Enable Can search to allow users to filter data within the dashlet

  • Set Pagination limit to control the number of visible rows

Custom Dashlet

Displays a custom view (e.g., a form or HTML view). Use this for specialized displays that do not fit the chart or grid pattern.

View Generation

When a dashboard is saved, Studio automatically generates the following runtime metadata:

  • A MetaView of type dashboard containing the <dashlet> XML definitions

  • One MetaAction of type action-view for each dashlet that references a MetaView (dashlets using existing actions reuse them directly)

The generated view and actions are stored in the metaViewGenerated and generatedActions fields of the dashboard entity.

If all dashlets are removed from a dashboard, the generated MetaView is automatically deleted on save.

Import and Export

Dashboards support import/export as part of Studio App packaging:

  • Export: Produces XML data with dashboard name, title, model, studioApp reference, and dashlet definitions

  • Import: A two-step process — first imports the dashboard data, then triggers a rebuild to regenerate the MetaView and MetaActions

The rebuild is triggered by a secondary import configuration that calls ImportService.importAppStudioDashboard(), which saves each imported dashboard to invoke the generation logic.

Technical Details

Dashboards are stored in the StudioDashboard entity (com.axelor.studio.db, cacheable).

Key entities:

Entity Description

StudioDashboard

Dashboard definition with title, name, dashlet list

StudioDashlet

Individual dashlet definition with view type, layout, and data source

Key services:

  • StudioDashboardServiceImpl.build() — Iterates dashlets, generates action-views using the dashboardActionView.tmpl template, creates the dashboard MetaView

  • StudioDashboardRepo.save() — Triggers build() on every save to regenerate the view

  • StudioDashboardRepo.remove() — Cleans up the generated MetaView before removal

The StudioDashlet entity has a unique constraint on (name, studioDashboard), ensuring no duplicate dashlet names within a dashboard.

  • Charts — Create charts to embed in dashboards

  • Studio Apps — Package dashboards in apps

  • App Loaders — Import/export dashboards across environments

  • Studio Overview — Complete feature overview